recipe | flourless chocolate and peanut butter brownie

People often look at Panu, and then they look at me (or my blog or my instagram feed). And they wonder how on earth he looks the way he does when he has to live with me.  Not that there’s anything wrong with living with me. I cook, I clean, I don’t snore and I even smell quite nice, or so I’m told. And on the odd occasion, I also bake some awesomely delicious things.

What does Panu bring to the relationship? Well, he has a mad six-pack.

So I’m not complaining.

Friends often ask how he stays as fit as he does when every weekend, I’m churning out cupcakes and cookies and ice cream and well, he just has to try them. Well, it hasn’t been too difficult. A few years ago, we agreed to eat disgustingly healthy on week days and let loose on weekends.

And boy, do we let loose

I do try and find healthier alternatives for baking too, but one thing is for sure – I will never ever compromise on taste. So, as a result, my recipes are usually still full of butter. But one can only do so much. I’ve started looking for recipes which swap out flour and have come across a few. My favourite is this quinoa chocolate cake, which not only swaps out flour but adds quinoa and we all know that quinoa = high protein right?

And recently I made these chocolate and peanut butter brownies from Citrus and Candy. This recipe swaps out flour for hazelnut meal, which is even better than quinoa because it’s just nuts! And what do health freaks like more than nuts? Pretty much nothing. So this is a winner!

ps. after doing the healthy thing, I usually revert back to something awesome like this ice cream filled doughnut. YES.

Flourless chocolate and peanut butter brownie
100g unsalted butter 100g natural unsweetened peanut butter (100% peanuts) – I used crunchy, because I like crunchy. 120g castor sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla essence 100g dark chocolate, chopped (I used 70%) 2 eggs, lightly beaten 100g hazelnut meal
Pre-heat oven to 170°C/340°F. Grease and line a 20cm square tin. In a saucepan over low heat, melt the butter, sugar, peanut butter and vanilla. Stir until smooth. Remove from heat and add the chopped chocolate. Let it sit for a minute to melt, then stir in until completely dissolved. Add the beaten eggs and stir in, and then add the hazelnut meal and mix until totally combined. Pour into prepared tin and bake for 15-17 minutes until a skewer comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes in the tin, then remove and cut into slices. Serve with cocoa, icing sugar or ice cream. Or they’re also delicious on their own.
Makes 9-12 slices, depending on how big or small your slices are